Patriots Notebook: Giants, McDaniels rumors already swirling

Tuesday

Dec 5, 2017 at 7:57 PMDec 5, 2017 at 7:57 PM

By Mark Daniels and Rich Garven@MarkDanielsPJ @RichGarvinTG

It’s that time of the year.

You’ve got Christmas and Hanukkah and other assorted festive celebrations leading up to New Year’s Day. And then there’s the NFL coaching carousel, which started spinning Monday when the New York Giants replaced Ben McAdoo with four games left in a 2-10 season.

That’s the first opening of what figures to many to come. Chicago, Cleveland and Indianapolis are strong possibilities to find themselves in the market for a new coach come January with Cincinnati, Denver, Tampa Bay, and Washington likely to at least review their situations.

And, as has been the case for the past few years now, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia figure to draw their fair share of interest. Multiple reports have already linked McDaniels to the Giants and one Vegas betting site has tabbed him as a 6-1 favorite to land in the Jersey Swamp.

“I’m just interested in the Dolphins right now,” McDaniels said Tuesday in a conference call. “That’s where my focus is at and that’s where it’s going to stay.”

The Patriots, 10-2 and winners of eight straight, can clinch their ninth consecutive AFC East title — and the automatic playoff berth that comes with it — with a win over the Dolphins on Monday night in Miami.

McDaniels, 41, joined the Patriots staff in 2001 and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2006. He’s held that position since with the exception of a three-year stretch that saw him go 11-17 as coach of the Broncos before being fired midway through the 2010 season and then serving as offensive coordinator of the then-St. Louis Rams under coach Steve Spagnuolo in 2011.

Spagnuolo, who grew up in Grafton, Mass., is currently serving as the Giants interim coach.

Belichick has publicly campaigned in the past for Patricia and McDaniels, who has interviewed with at least five teams for head coaching vacancies since 2015 before either withdrawing his name or being eliminated from consideration.

Nothing has changed in that regard, although he referred any current questions on the subject to past statements.

“I think I’ve been on the record so many times about our coaches, our coaching staff and questions along those lines,” Belichick said. “I mean, there’s got to be notebooks full of questions that I’ve answered about that.”

BRADY BLOWUP DOESN'T BOTHER MCDANIELS

Brady was cool and calm last Friday while explaining why he apparently has never uttered a negative word about his offensive linemen. (“Yeah, it’s an incredibly difficult job.”)

Two days later, Brady was all hot and heated during a sideline exchange with McDaniels following an incompletion in the first quarter of the Patriots’ 23-3 win over the Bills. McDaniels appeared to be telling Brady what he should have done and the quarterback didn’t want to hear it, leading to what can best be described as a temper tantrum.

“It’s just football,” Brady said afterward.

McDaniels seconded the emotion Tuesday while speaking publicly about the incident for the first time.

“It’s a very competitive game and emotional game and things like that can happen,” McDaniels said. “Being in the game a long time, and understanding that Tommy's a very emotional person and emotional player. It’s part of what makes him great. You understand that those things happen and it's never personal. You move on quickly from it and we did and we have.”

BEST SINCE WEEK 5

The Patriots allowed 128 points in their first four games, an average of 32 per outing while going 2-2. They’ve allowed 95 in the last eight, an average of 11.9 while going 8-0.

No team in the league has allowed fewer points since Week 5. To put that 11.9 figure in context, it’s well under the 15.6 points per game the Patriots allowed last season while leading the league.

“We’re trying to do a lot of things better bit by bit,” Belichick said. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but we’ve made some improvements.”